Hello, my 5 month kittens no matter how gradually we mix it, are really not getting on with natures menu adult food. We've been veeeerrry gradually for 2 weeks now and they keep having the runs. Is there any other high meat ones out there any one can recommend, or is it a case of trial and error?

I'm thinking of just going to tesco's and getting finest. It's only 49% (still better than 4%, eh!) and maybe that will be more gentle on their tums?

Thanks,

Toffee x

yeah try something different, but i would recommend starving them for 24hrs and giving just water, then feeding chicken only for a few days before trying them slowley with cooked chicken the new food.

we changed to bozita cartons a couple of weeks ago and it is really suiting them, they love it too!

93% meat and contains things like lungs, necks, gullets

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Tums are much better on tesco's luxury-49% meat! Was obviously too rich for them!

What order do you feed the food in (when you say mix it)
I've found that if I feed raw or tinned for breakfast, and biscuits (burns) after, they manage it a lot better as the meat takes longer to digest than the biscuits xx

Oh and one more thing - our mittens had the runs on and off for little while and while they were otherwise totally healthy it was of course a concern for me. It didn't seem to be food related as I carefully changed their diet and saw little improvement - I did think for a little while that it was because of their scavenging behaviour (I've caught them nicking amongst other things dog biscuits, cucumbers, butter, oil out of the chip pan, and in quite large doses!) but since then they've improved a lot despite still managing to skank the odd thing they shouldn't - and the one main thing I've changed is their water... I've started giving them boiled or cheap bottled table water instead of water straight out of the tap... and their poos are back to normal. I'm 80% convinced that the improvement is due to the water, and as they don't drink that much it's not a very hard change to make to see if it works xxx
Sorry * just noticed you've solved your problem anyway chick xx

Generally it's the other way around. Dogs, cats and ferrets have very short digestive tracts compared to omnivores and herbivores, and lack a caecum. Meat and bone is their primary food and is digested quickly and easily, whereas a cooked processed diet (including Nature's Menu) is full of grain and veggies and bulked out with fibre to keep it in the system long enough for them to be able to extract any nutrition. As it's not a food source they're designed to handle (biscuits are mainly grain/carbohydrates) they wouldn't be able to live on it otherwise. It would pass through their digestive tracts before they'd extracted anything from it.

OP, when you say Nature's Menu do you mean AMP's cooked diet with veggies and grains in it? That grain and veggie component is likely what's giving them the upset tums. I suggest NOT mixing their foods, and instead switching to whole pieces of raw meat and bone. If you'd prefer a mushy diet (bad for the teeth) then you can buy Prize Choice mince blocks from any place selling Nature's Menu, and they are pure meat. Switch 'cold turkey' as it were, and you'll find the tums are much better after a brief adjustment period.

Cats are quite fussy compared to dogs (and don't we all know it!), so you might have to try a fish mince (or better yet whole fish), or a VERY lightly grilled chicken quarter - just enough to bring the smell out - to tempt them at first. Once they realise what's inside they'll tuck in with gusto. Generally though kittens are young enough to know that raw food is just that - FOOD. They've not been conditioned by years of sugary processed junk and therefore have no addiction/conditioning to overcome before they can enjoy real food.

The bone content will make for firm motions and the extremely high digestibility of the raw meat (versus veggie and grain based foods) will ensure the delicate tums aren't upset. I hope this helps.

Interesting! Ok fair enough I'm wrong
I get it
I always assumed it was the same way as for people (but never mixed the two)
So you're saying it would be preferable (If I'm going to continue to feed dry as well) to feed the kits and dogs biscuits for breakfast and lunch and then bones and tins for tea and supper? rather than the other way round?
I feed at about 7.30-8am, midday, 4pm and 8.30. So there is always around 4 hours between meals.

Unless they're very young, I wouldn't be feeding them four times a day anyway. Especially not different food each time! Personally I'd feed a kibble meal at one time and then a whole raw meaty bone later in the day that they can settle down and 'go at'. Much more satisfying for them that way, as anyone who's sat down at a table to eat (rather than absent-mindedly bolting food in front of the TV) will know.

The kits have just turned six months and I'm cutting down to 3 x a day at the minute anyway, it's just been good to feed them all 4 x a day as they being tabby bsh's love to eat and lots of it, also my dog got rather overweight last summer (neighbours feeding him and OH feeding him too much as well) so I've been working on his diet and strict exercise regime and have been advised to feed him little and often, and he's been weighed today and has lost 3 kg (woop woop!) only 1 kg to go and he'll be perfect weight.
I usually feed tinned for breakfast, a little more for lunch and the biscuits for the other meals. By and large if they have raw it'll be a raw day or raw in place of two of the meals (not raw and tinned on the same day) so I think I'm kinda gettin it right... They've been absolutely fine with this method but I will try swapping them around. Don't worry I don't feed them different things for every meal